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If you like an intensely flavored gravy, then you’ll LOVE my hamburger gravy! If you are my people, then you probably crave a good sausage gravy now and then. Well, this hamburger gravy is all that plus more! This is a meatier, tastier version of the classic sausage gravy. Made all from scratch, this is real-deal comfort food at its best! No cream of mushroom soup in our recipe!
Plus, if you happen to have ground hamburger on hand and don’t have sausage, then this is the recipe for you! Slather your mashed potatoes, biscuits, rice, or noodles with this thick and creamy sauce made from whole milk, onions, garlic, and spices. This gravy is lick-your-plate good! If you’re looking for a more classic gravy recipe, I hope you’ll check out my white gravy!
Well, we all know this dish by derogatory and unpleasant names! SOS (which stands for Sh** on a shingle), which is famously served to our military, chipped beef gravy, or ground beef gravy, depending on where you live in our country.
Are you looking for more 30-minute meals? I hope you’ll check out my one-pot chicken and rice, one pan gnocchi and sausage, and ground beef and potatoes.
If you love easy, comforting meals like this, be sure to check out my full collection of ground beef recipes for even more family-friendly dinner ideas.
Hamburger Gravy Recipe Ingredients
- Oil: I use vegetable oil
- Ground beef: 80/20 ground beef is the correct ratio of lean to fat for the best flavor and texture.
- Onion: Brown onions add that mellow savory flavor.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves. In a pinch, you can substitute fresh with dried garlic powder.
- Salt: Add to taste after simmering
- Black pepper: This balances the spices.
- All-purpose flour: For the roux
- Better than Bouillon: This is the secret ingredient that adds a lot of beefy flavor. I love this product. It has a much better taste than beef bouillon and less salt.
- Worcestershire sauce: To bring that beefy flavor home, this complex sauce is just the right ingredient for that meaty flavor, which complements the ground beef.
- Whole milk: For the roux, to make a creamy gravy.
- Garnish: Let’s face it, this isn’t a very pretty finished dish. Garnish makes a world of difference in its appearance. I like to sprinkle it with a bit of chopped fresh parsley or chives.
Hamburger Gravy Tips
- Make Mine Richer, Please: Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream to make the gravy slightly richer.
- Lower-Fat Beef: If you use lower-fat, lean ground beef, the fat-to-flour ratio will be off. Our recipe was developed to use 80/20% ground beef. If you use lower-fat meat, after the beef and onion have been cooked, carefully measure the fat that remains in the pan. You’ll need a total of 1/4 of a cup to thicken the gravy properly. Add butter to make up the difference. The same goes if you switch the meat out for ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Toast The Flour: Make sure the flour is thoroughly cooked (for about a minute or two) before adding the milk. This will ensure that the gravy doesn’t have a raw flour taste.
- Dairy-free: Skip the milk and use low-sodium beef broth instead. The gravy will still be thick, simply not creamy.
- Gluten-free: Skip the roux, which contains flour, and make a cornstarch slurry. Frankly, I’d make this switch only if it’s required for dietary restrictions. A roux makes the most silky gravy! Stay gluten-free by serving over gluten-free noodles.
Can I Add Cream Of Mushroom Soup?
Why would I add cream of mushroom gravy to this all-scratch-made gravy recipe? Is it necessary? No, not at all! That said, this combination can bring together the best of both worlds, homemade quality with the convenience of a canned product. It can effortlessly add a mushroom flavor without using fresh mushrooms. No, carefully cleaning, slicing, then sautéing.
It can also extend the amount of gravy, thereby extending the number of people you can serve. The perfect solution for unexpected guests or kids asking that age-old question: “Can I have a friend over for dinner?”
Here’s How: Add 1/2 a can to the gravy, then thin it as needed with about 1/2 cup of extra milk.
Can I Add Vegetables To The Gravy?
- Mushrooms: These are fabulous in this recipe. I cook them before the onion until they’re soft and have released their liquid. You may need to add 1-2 more tablespoons of oil as the mushrooms will absorb all the oil they’re cooked in. Then proceed with the recipe as written.
- Shallots: These add another sweeter onion flavor. You can add them in addition to the onions or use them as a substitute.
- Want To Sneak In More Nutrition? Adding frozen veggies is a great way to do so. I like to cook them according to the package instructions, then, when they’re cool enough to handle, I run a knife through them to roughly chop them into smaller pieces. You’ll need to add more liquid to the gravy. Do it to your taste to achieve the consistency you desire.
How To Serve Hamburger Gravy
We love this served over buttered egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or garlic mashed potatoes. If I want to have half my dinner made ahead of time, I make and serve it with my make-ahead mashed potatoes. A bonus of these potatoes is that they’re extra rich due to the sour cream, butter, and cream cheese.
This gravy is fabulous over biscuits! We like it served over my cheddar biscuits, butter swim biscuits, cathead biscuits, or over Bisquick biscuits! I adore them over our rolled Bisquick biscuits with one caveat! These particular biscuits are so tender and delicate that they can break apart if you split them, so I pour the gravy over them whole.
Side dishes I like to serve with this meal are my house salad with buttermilk dressing, KFC coleslaw, carrot salad, brown sugar-glazed carrots, creamed peas, or my easy skillet corn.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This in The Fridge? Once cooked and cooled, your hamburger gravy will last up to three days in the fridge. Store in an airtight container.
- Reheat: I reheat this in a microwave-safe bowl, loosely cover it with damp paper towels, and heat it in the microwave. You may need to thin it when reheating with a bit of water or beef broth.
- Can You Freeze This? I do not recommend freezing.
- Make-Ahead: My hamburger gravy will heat up nicely and can be made ahead of time.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out these links for refrigeration and freezing.
How To Make Hamburger Gravy
- Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook.
- Add onion, garlic, and black pepper. Continue to cook until the onion is soft and there is no longer any pink in the beef.
- Stir in the dissolved bouillon with water, and Worcestershire. Sprinkle flour over the top of the beef. Add the milk and continue to cook until it thickens.
- Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Serve over garlic or plain mashed potatoes.
***See Full Instructions On The Recipe Card Below!
More Hamburger Recipes
- Beefaroni
- Taco Pasta
- Hamburger Casserole
- Hamburger Rice Casserole
- Hamburger Stew
- Hamburger Hashbrown Casserole
- Hamburger Soup
- Hamburger Potato Casserole
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Hamburger Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound ground beef, 80/20
- 1/2 cup onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon beef flavored Better than Bouillon
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 12 ounces whole milk
Instructions
- Dissolve better than bouillon (1 tablespoon) in 1/4 cup of boiling water; set aside.
- In a large high-sided skillet, add oil (1 tablespoon) and swirl to cover the bottom of the skillet. Add ground beef (1 pound) then cook, over medium heat, crumbling beef as it cooks. Add onion (1/2 cup), garlic (4 cloves), and black pepper (1/2 teaspoon). Continue to cook until the onion is soft and there is no longer any pink in the beef.
- Stir in dissolved better than bouillon with water it's dissolved in and Worcestershire sauce (2 teaspoons).
- Sprinkle flour (1/4 cup) over top of beef. Stir until beef is coated with flour. Cook, stirring frequently. Add the milk (12 ounces). When the mixture begins to bubble, cook until it's thickened to your liking, about 5-10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.
- Serve over garlic or plain mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Make Mine Richer, Please: Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream to make the gravy slightly richer.
- Lower-Fat Beef: If you use lower-fat, lean ground beef, the fat-to-flour ratio will be off. Our recipe was developed to use 80/20% ground beef. If you use lower-fat meat, after the beef and onion have been cooked, carefully measure the fat that remains in the pan. You’ll need a total of 1/4 of a cup to thicken the gravy properly. Add butter to make up the difference. The same goes if you switch the meat out for ground turkey or ground chicken.
- Toast The Flour: Make sure the flour is thoroughly cooked (for about a minute or two) before adding the milk. This will ensure that the gravy doesn’t have a raw flour taste.
- Dairy-free: Skip the milk and use low-sodium beef broth instead. The gravy will still be thick, simply not creamy.
- Gluten-free: Skip the roux, which contains flour, and make a cornstarch slurry. Frankly, I’d make this switch only if it’s required for dietary restrictions. A roux makes the most silky gravy! Stay gluten-free by serving over gluten-free noodles.
Nutrition
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it’s so good and budget-friendly! I served it with rice. My kids loved it!
Yum! Perfect with rice and kid-approved. It’s a winner! Thanks for the positive feedback and 5-star rating, Claire!!